Another wonderful, albeit short, trip. R was gratefully let out of work early on the Friday after Independence Day so we were able to get on the road by 3:30pm and arrived to camp in good time at 8:30pm - just in time to see a young buck with a small rack jog in front of our car down the trail when we were less than half a mile away from camp!
Willow has actually seemed to learn to time the trip so she doesn't have to use the litter box on the road. When we stop for us and for Tyson, I offer her the litter box (a large tupperware container with a lid). She used to use it at most every stop, but now she seems to wait until we get there if she can. The day before we leave we usually start asking Tyson and Willow if they "want to go to camp in Maine for a couple days" and that we'll "take a ride in the truck to camp". Repetition is key with training animals, and they seem to be learning what those phrases mean. When we're almost there, we start saying, "almost to camp!" and they both get up and start looking out the windows with interest. The same goes for when we're almost home. It seems like they can smell the unique differences in each location and are growing familiar with them - that they're just not in some strange area. Animals are so amazing.
Last time we left camp a couple of weeks ago I remembered to set up the trail cam. Hooray! We were fortunate enough to catch some wonderful images of two fawn frolicking in the clearing outside our camper!
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| Practicing for the reindeer games! |
Mama doe must have been in the woods out of the camera's sight. You can see in a couple of pictures where the fawn are looking into the woods, and sometimes you can see a slight shift in colors behind some of the leaves, maybe indicating Mama was there with her watchful eyes. There are tons more images in the Black Birch Acres Photo Album, but here are a couple of animations Google Photos put together for me of the sequenced images. Before we saw the pictures of the two fawn we thought there was only one fawn, but then noticed how the spots were different. Then both came in to view! Apparently, does give birth to between one and three fawns, and the babies keep their spots until they are about 4 months of age.
The mosquitoes and horseflies were not intolerable, but they seem to get consistently worse with every visit. Probably I have at least a dozen or more mosquito bites covering my body. I will gladly accept all of the bug bites so long as none of the itchies turn in to Poison Ivy. PLEASE NO.
I try my best to steer clear of the plant with [sometimes] mitten-shaped leaves. Unfortunately, all it takes is Tyson or Willow traipsing through some Poison Ivy, unknowingly getting slathered with the unseen urushiol (you-ROO-shee-all) oil from the plant, and then transferring it to our skin when we pet them or they rub against our bare leg. Then if we were to wipe the sweat off our brow with the hand that just pet them. It can turn into such a mess! Heck, the oil can even adhere to firewood or gardening tools, so we need to be cognizant on where we place these items on the ground. With the presence of Poison Ivy (I've gotten it once so far from camp but it wasn't bad at all fortunately), I'm very hesitant to mow the lawn. It's getting tall, though. I suppose one would wear long sleeves, a dust mask, pants, boots; then remove all of said items immediately afterwards. Don't touch any of the clothing articles because the oil can stay on objects for weeks. Wash them and you with water and soap afterwards immediately. Say a little prayer.. Probably we'll take the mower next time.
Additionally, thankfully, what I thought may have been Poison Ivy may not be, and the rhyme "leaves of three, leave it be" is not always entirely accurate because many plants have groupings of three leaves. What I thought was Poison Ivy may actually be blackberries(!), according to some people in a Native Plants Facebook group. Apparently, identifying Poison Ivy is a learned skill because the plant has many forms.
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| The hairy/prickly stem is apparently an indicator that it is blackberries and not Poison Ivy. See the three-leaved wild strawberry in the left picture? |
While "leaves of three, leave it be" may not be totally accurate, it does hold a bit of truth. Some other rhymes I found for identifying poison ivy are:
- If butterflies land there, don't put your hand there. Butterflies land on Poison Ivy because they aren't affected by it, and it sometimes keeps predators away from them.
- Hairy vine, no friend of mine. Poison Ivy on trees has a furry raggy appearance. If you see it, you may not want to touch or climb that tree.
- Red leaflets in the spring, it's a dangerous thing. New Ivy leaflets can have a reddish appearance in the spring, but will eventually turn green, and become harder to identify as summer approaches.
- Side leaflets like mittens will itch like the dickens. Watch for the little notches. These can be a dead give away that you're messing with the wrong plant!
Keeping a keen...ahem...paranoid...eye out for poisonous plants, we took a little walk through the woods to see more of what beautiful nature has to offer. It's awesomely amazing how you can see the clear division of wetlands versus forest as you get nearer to the river.
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| Forest/Wetland line |
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| Do you see what I see? A face in the formation? Slightly creepy. |
After our explorations, we headed back to do some work solidifying the cabin shell that was put up by the former owner. It's coming along slowly but surely. Our plan is to make it safe and button it up the rest of the way so we can move from the tiny camper into the larger space of the cabin temporarily. Once the coming winter passes, we'll begin plans to properly build our own cabin. While we were in the cabin shell discussing plans for a bathroom with an indoor composting toilet, R noticed something on the wall. Is that an eye shining in the camera flash?!?! THE EYES OF A BIG FREAKING SPIDER. NO THANK YOU AT ALL.
I still have trouble viewing this and avert my eyes quickly when I do. <insert nervous laughter> I just can't with spiders. Can't.Even. R and I agreed not to kill it. I don't like killing any living things unnecessarily, and we haven't claimed this cabin as our own yet really, so technically the bugs and animals still "own" it until we put our mark on it and seal the building up. This spider gets a second chance; just DON'T come back and you'll be ok. I think we would need a goddamn sledge hammer to kill it anyways because surely a flip flop would NOT do the trick.
I basically fled the scene and retreated to the camper. I would have NO PART in capturing this...spider. It's funny. As I type this, I keep starting to refer to the spider as a monster, but alas, my rational side says no, it is not a monster. However, I tell you what, my life nearly flashed before my eyes as I was standing there before this arachnid on the wall and pictured this...huge beast...going on the offensive and leaping off the wall at my face! AAAAHHHH! <throws arms up in front of face> Ok. Getting ahold of myself. Sorry. Let's pull the rational thinking rope back in. I'm sure this big spider just...just eats..the...bad..spiders. I can't even bring myself to research spider pictures to identify it. UGH. R came in to the camper to get a cup and a paper plate to trap it. BRAVE MAN. I took a video and pictures before he deposited it far up the driveway. Please stay away. I don't want to have to hurt you Big Guy.
